Two Kiwi sisters who have been targeted by a United States-based "stalker" in a decade-long campaign of online harassment are begging for authorities to intervene.
Harriet Campbell, 25, said the harassment began ten years ago when she met Eric Purnell on an online forum, and he began asking questions about her personal life that made her uncomfortable.
Purnell then allegedly started bombarding Campbell, then aged just 14, with abusive messages from fake accounts, forcing her to quit social media completely.
The US man then found her contact details and those of her sister, Alice Campbell, whom he begged to convince Harriet to resume their online contact
Their experience is becoming increasingly common: it is difficult for authorities to crack down on international cyber-crime.
The situation worsened to the point that the sisters started receiving death and rape threats from an online persona called 'The Hacker'.
This prompted them to complain to the New Zealand police and their counterparts in the United States.
American police say they have been unable to prosecute Purnell because the crime was a "misdemeanour".
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7 comments:
How sad.
You won't see this on local news, although it should be. This person is a menace.
is he the same guy who was sending flashing gifs to Kurt Eichenwald?
I don't believe him either. If it was someone else causing him trouble, he would have shut down his social media as well.
If this creep is in America and the girl is in New Zealand, can't New Zealand refuse to allow him in their country if he so chooses to go? Just refuse his passport.
4:03 PM Its easy to be an A$$hole from a distance. I doubt he has any intention of traveling. He is from Salisbury, he probably hasn't been past the state line.
Yet another reason to stay off social media. (and keep your kids off it also)
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